Sunday, January 30, 200502:14 am UTC@Wylde Chylde Elessa2005 pony
Hits: 4631437well, well, well... a frozen corner in hades was located with a snowball. on tuesday night a 2005 mustang was delivered to my driveway. note, i say night.

in the morning i went outside to behold my new toy and imagine my surprise when i saw the car in daylight. not exactly a shade i would describe as grey. yeah, yeah...ford describes the colour as mineral grey. heh, more like a light bronze or taupe if ye ask me.

thursday morning i took the pony to one of the best designers and installers of exhaust systems in california, ed hanson mufflers. people will drive here from all over the country to have him install new exhaust on their hotrods. he even installs for roush new designs before they reach the public to make certain they meet top standards. so, i now have dual exhaust on a V6 that sounds louder and has a more throaty growl than the stock ford V8 GT. and it didn't cost me a $9K markup to get that sound either. heh!

next up is to have the car custom striped. i hope to have that accomplished by the end of next week. to my eye it is missing that to make it truly look like the retro 1970 mustang boss. no, i am not putting on the stripe kit from ford. too cheesy. i have a better idea, or i should say, an idea i will like far better.

anyway, if ye would like to take a look at my new pony, here is the link. i will be adding pics when i have the stripes finished. i also intend to add pics of what i consider to be a grey car.

http://www.wyldedragonne.com/gallery/album34
-Wylde Chylde ElessaWednesday, January 19, 200501:44 am UTC@Wylde Chylde Elessawhere in the world is...
Hits: 4631457well, hmmmmm.... guess what? i am not currently travelling. i am kinda stuck in san diego. ye see, i totalled my nissan pathfinder in december, settled with the insurance company and went out looking for a new vehicle. not being able to decide if i wished to purchase another pathfinder or similar suv, i drove a number of vehicles.

*sigh

wouldn't ye know it i test drive and decide i want the one vehicle that is in the most demand... a 2005 mustang

not that i want anything over the top either. the V6 premium model with sport package. how hard to find is it ye ask? well, if i were willing to drive a car in a shade other than mineral grey, sonic blue or windveil blue, i would have a pony right now. but no, i have to be choosy and therefore sit here six weeks after my accident with no car of my own. i am of the mind that if i am going to be looking at the hood, i want it to be a colour i like looking at. so there!

soon, though...soon.

- Wylde Chylde ElessaFriday, December 10, 200412:29 am UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaAdventures in Driving
Hits: 4632055on my return from the far northwest, i decided to stop to visit my friend, taerie, in oregon who literally lives in a town of one, called elkhorn. she moved away from san diego to live there taking care of a ranch with horses and cabins that are used by members of the ranch corporation. she gets to endure nature's raw beauty every day, poor girl. take a look in my photo gallery of the views she has to endure from her front window of a river and mountains.

we walked up into the mountains to enjoy the waterfalls that cascade there. she actually gets all of her water from the creek that flows to the river.

i left her just as the snow was starting to fall on sunday and managed to drive the pacific coast as far south as eureka, california. then the fun began...

on monday whilst driving through the redwoods in a heavy rain i experienced what is known as hydroplaning when i came around a curve on the highway. as i slid towards oncoming traffic i did what any inexperienced, panicked person would do. i over corrected when i turned the wheel and spun about as the truck came back across the road and down an embankment.

well, let me tell ye, t'was not a bunch of fun. the truck, fortunately, did not rollover. i must commend nissan for building a very sturdy truck. though it is totalled due to the major bending of the rear frame of the quarter panels, the truck protected me well. i walked away from it with some major muscle aches, naught else. if ye would like to view this lovely scene, here ye be.

i meandered to the goldstream forest to wander its lush wet paths in the misty rain that has been surrounding me since i arrived in the northwest. don't know which is worse, perpetual gray and misty, or blue skies and sunny all the time. ye decide. the goldstream is a salmon spawning ground and i was treated to the sight of salmon swimming upstream. i was also treated to the sight of thousands of dead salmon being feasted upon by seagulls. after spawning, salmon die and litter the banks of the stream. the scent in the air was, well, quite pungent.

near the tip of the island stands the tallest totem pole carved from a single cedar tree. it is an incredible 127 feet tall. pictures of it and other totem poles are in my picture gallery at http://www.wyldedragonne.com/gallery

i walked the streets of the city admiring its british influenced architecture. naturally, i wasn't surprised to discover fantastical beasties upon the facade of the parliament building. wyverns and gryphons adorn its stone edifice and have joined pics with other beasties i have encountered over the past few months.

tomorrow i may take a tour of the inside of craigdarroch castle. i spent a few moments outside her doors taking pictures, but have yet to venture inside.

another site to spend some time in if i have the opportunity will be the royal british columbia museum. http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca i am truly bummed to have missed an exhibit of egyptian antiquities that was in place through october 31. ah well, they did have some tidbits from it in the gift shop.

:wraps herself in a blanket and welcomes the thought of returning home to warm southern california weather as she sits and writes

- Wylde Chylde ElessaTuesday, November 30, 200402:08 am UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaSeattle
Hits: 4631918wet, wet, wet...moss growing on roofs...ah, the great American Northwest in the tail end of fall. cold and rainy...

i drove to seattle, washington to spend a week in the company of kendaer and his lovely wife, melissa. not to mention their four fur children, jade, jasmine, belle, and hope.

whilst there i was treated to a fantastic thanksgiving dinner the company of many of their friends on thursday.

we spent time at the Seattle Center...it is the home of many museums, the Space Needle, the ballet and arena.

the Experience Music Project, http://www.emplive.com is an incredible and wonderful place to spend time. there are exhibits for the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix. not to mention, they have interactive sound booths where you can learn voice, keyboards, guitar, mixing, scratching, etc.

another museum that was a pleasure to explore is the Science Fiction museum, http://www.sfhomeworld.org/ the collection contains pulp magazines, books, costumes, props, artwork, interactive graphics, fan contributions....just a ton of really neat stuff to look at.

outside in the center of the square there is a fountain that accompanies music. children have fun playing chicken with the water as it spurts forth seemingly randomly in intensity.

i must say, the drive from san diego up to seattle was incredibly beautiful. those of you who live in northern california, oregon or washington state live in some of the most awesome landscape i have seen.

- Wylde Chylde ElessaMonday, November 15, 200402:57 am UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaCanada meets California
Hits: 4631937earlier this week i had the pleasure of meeting mortimer/talisman when he was in san diego where i live. he was here for a very brief stay when the canadian ship he serves was in port. we arranged to meet so he could participate in my LoTGD World Tour of meeting different players.

i pondered what sights i would show him in the day in which he was here.

i decided that since most people have an image of san diego and southern california being beaches and palm trees, which while true on the coast, is not true in the inland areas. i decided i would show him something not typically associated with the image of san diego.

i took him to the old gold mining town of julian, located about an hour north east of san diego. http://www.julianca.com/

the drive up the mountain was most pleasant and enjoyable. we arrived and were blessed with finding a parking space in this very popular tourist location. after spending the afternoon venturing into some of its many gifts stores, book stores and a knife/sword shop, we proceeded to make the trek back down the mountain.

in the evening we spent an enjoyable time in the company of the charming rogue and nemesis to us all from the forest, lonestrider.

alas, mortimer's time in san diego was but for one day and i would have liked to have shown him more of its sights. however, duty called and he had to depart.

all in all it was much fun for me to be the one showing the sights of her surrounding area, rather than being the one who was the tourist for a change.

- Wylde Chylde ElessaWednesday, November 03, 200402:10 am UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaLoTGD Pets Gallery
Hits: 4632126in conversation last night with some players i had the idea to have an album in my photo gallery of their pets.

if ye have a pic of your pet and would like it to be included, you may send it to me at

dragonne13@wyldedragonne.com

please remember to give me the pet's name(s) and your player name.

to view pets, go to www.wyldedragonne.com/gallery

- Wylde Chylde ElessaSunday, October 24, 200411:41 pm UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaTexas and Arizona
Hits: 4632508yee haw and yippee ki yi ay! well, i went through the very very very large state...too large state, of texas. i stopped in a town just north of houston to spend time with Gwendllyne and her far too adorable kitten Napoleon.

On Sunday, she and I met DarkMan at the Texas RenFest...the largest renaissance faire in the country (of course).

This faire is an incredible experience in sights and sounds. Ah, the dulcet sounds of bagpipes...gods, I love bagpipes!

WATCH THIS SPACE...UNDER CONSTRUCTION...SOON TO BE COMPLETED

- Wylde Chylde ElessaThursday, October 14, 200411:51 pm UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaNew Orleans
Hits: 4632210This is such a fun city to visit. I have been here more than once and do not consider myself a tourist as I have an idea of where I want to go and walk with purpose. I must say, Bourbon Street is a definite source of entertainment...nothing like watching the tourists who have indulged in drinking far too much.

I find it very interesting to be in a city where drinking in public is encouraged. You can walk from bar to bar with alcoholic beverages. I also find it interesting to be in establishments where the employees are drinking alcohol while working. I was in a restaurant and the wait staff were drinking cans of beer. Definitely a different place from California.

I met Voratus and his girlfriend, Micah, at a bar called the Whirling Dervish. It was "old school industrial" night. The music was fantastic and the crowd was all locals.

Today, he and I meandered through the French Quarter. He lives in one of the closes (remember me talking about those in Edinburgh?) in an apartment. His apartment puts him right in the middle of one of the most desired areas to live. He has a wonderful roof view of the river and the Quarter.

We went to Cemetary No. 1. This is one of the oldest cemetaries in the city of New Orleans. It is where Marie LeVeaux is buried, ye know, the Voodoo Queen. I should have pics up in my gallery shortly. Would you like another lesson in something interesting? Well, here goes...the graves in old New Orleans are above ground. When someone died, their body was placed in the brick tomb then it was sealed. The heat and moisture of the weather literally cooks the flesh from the body, leaving behind bones. The tomb is opened and the bones pushed aside to allow room for another body. The tombs were used by families.

I also indulged in the cuisine for which New Orleans is famous...shrimp creole, chicken gumbo and bread pudding.

In keeping with my desire to see and learn more of the places that are called home, he and I ventured around the coast of middle Florida. So, that means there is a wee history lesson to follow for ye here.

One outing took us to St. Augustine, the oldest city in the USA. It was founded by the Spanish in 1565 as a wooden fort. Eventually, in 1672, the fort of Castillo de San Marcos was constructed of walls from a local stone called "coquina" (co-key-na). The name means "little shells" and that is exactly what the stone is made of, little shellfish that died long ago and their shells have now become bonded together to form the stone. The coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island over across the bay. It is really neat to look at and i put a pic of the stone in the 'Patterns' album in my web gallery.

Many flags have flown during the Castillo's distinguished history, including the Spanish (1695 - 1763) the British (1763 - 1784), the Spanish again (1784 - 1821), the United States of America (1821 - 1861), the Confederate States of America (1861 - March of 1862), and finally the United States of America again (1862 - 1900). Changes in occupation of the fort came about only through military agreements or political treaty. Amazingly, the Castillo was never taken by force.

This fortress was a military installation building and not somewhere that people lived. The soldiers lived in St. Augustine with their families and worked during the day at the fort.

Another outing found us scoping out tattoo parlours in Orlando as I taught one of Luine's friends how to find an artist to design then ink a tattoo of Treebeard from Lord of the Rings. It was quite fun to be given a near brush off from the tattoo artists when we first entered the establishments and asked to view portfolios of work done. I would then turn around to expose my back in the halter top I was wearing as I would open the portfolios. Needless to say, our presence was given immediate attention as being seriously interested in tattoos at that point.

On Monday, friends from San Diego happened to also be in Orlando. I met with Mark Y. and Jim P. for a day of adrenalin rush and downpouring rain riding rollercoasters at Universal Studios. Man, I love rollercoasters...even if I do get motion sickness.

Tuesday, I met with the trio of Angul, Ithilden, and Vicious. They are also denizens of the state of Florida, though in a small community in the panhandle called Chipley. I was given the grand tour which included a visit to an ostrich farm.

Tomorrow morn the plan is to head to the city of New Orleans to stay a couple days in the French Quarter. I am to meet with Voratus for a cup of coffee and beignets (really yummy french style doughnuts) as the tour continues.

- Wylde Chylde ElessaThursday, October 07, 200412:52 pm UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaPhoto Gallery
Hits: 4632662happiness and joy! my photo gallery has been restored and its capacity increased to handle the number of photographs i am uploading. therefore, over the next couple days i shall be adding to it pics of things referenced, but not seen. some are there now...

www.wyldedragonne.com/gallery

- Wylde Chylde ElessaWednesday, October 06, 200401:55 pm UTC@Wylde Chylde ElessaKey West
Hits: 4632670I returned to the USA in time to attend a friend's wedding in Key West Florida. The keys are a very interesting part of the USA. They are a series of islands that extend south of the state of Florida into the Gulf of Mexico and are about two hours south of Miami.

The weather here is a great contrast to that of the UK. It is very hot and humid. This means i have gone from wearing a parka, hat and gloves, to wearing a bathing suit every day.

Heck, i wore a bathing suit with a skirt to the wedding it was so hot!

I went on a sunset sail on a 45 foot catamaran into the Atlantic Ocean. It was a blast! The waters are still choppy from hurrican Jeanne, so I got rather wet as we cut through them. I stood at the bow and just let the waves splash up on the front deck all over me. There was also a three masted schooner also sailing that night under full sail. She looked awesome!

I ventured into the Mel Fisher Museum located near Mallory Square. He is responsible for having discovered the Atocha, among other Spanish Treasure ships, that sank in 1622. His research organization is also responsible for finding and raising artifacts from a slave trade ship. I will post pics of some of the finds when my gallery is recovered. (hmmm...if i can distract Lonestrider long enough from stealing our gems, perhaps I can persuade him that my gallery is more important and that he really does need to fix it)

I also meandered through the 'Little White House' which was used by Harry Truman and other presidents. Though it is now a museum, it is still used by the government for meetings with heads of state.

The island/key of Key West is very tropical and has an atmosphere of debauchery and decadence very similar to the French Quarter of New Orleans. Let's just say it is a playground for adults.

On Friday i shall head north to Orlando to meet Luinefirithion. Hmmm...the world of Disney properties....